Ferrari won 5 races out of 8, and the world title went to Phil Hill.
From 1961 engines were limited to 1.5 litres, and Ferrari were the best prepared for the new rules: their “sharknose” car won five of the eight races. Even so, Stirling Moss won at Monaco and the Nürburgring in a privately entered Lotus.
The title was fought out between Ferrari team-mates Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, von Trips was killed in a crash that also took the lives of spectators, while Hill won the race and became the first American World Champion — one point ahead of his late team-mate.
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